This year, I have set out with a major objective of trying to make life easier for myself; both in my working life and my personal life. I think it is a wonderful objective and one that when achieved, will improve the quality of life for me while having some positive benefits for my friends and family. This is not a goal with a set end date. It is an objective which can be constantly pursued and improved upon. When you make life easier, you achieve more of what is important, reduce stress and conflict and improve the quality of your relationships. What’s not to like about that?
The advocates of the Zen mindset often use water as an example when speaking of life’s challenges. We can use such an example in this instance too – life is a lot like swimming: if you have good technique, you can glide along easily and effortlessly. If you are lacking in technique, the water puts up more resistance and you end up expending great quantities of energy, thrashing about, going nowhere. Simply put, if you adopt the right approach and seek to make life easier, you will move through life more simply and encounter less resistance along the way.
6 Tips to make life easier
When you are attempting to make life easier for yourself, a few simple changes to your mindset can reap great rewards. It can be as much about what you don’t do as it is about what you do. Give these suggestions an honest try and you’ll make life a whole lot easier for yourself:
1. Focus on what’s important
Life can be hectic and one of the biggest challenges facing people today is time management. The biggest problem with time management is that people look at time in the wrong way. From a young age, we are taught to think of time chronologically i.e. each minute is of equal value.
In terms of time management we must shift our focus to understand that the value of a specific unit of time e.g. 1 hour is determined by how we spend that unit of time i.e. 1 hour spent working on an important tasks is far more important than 1 hour spent working on a meaningless task.
An error that almost everyone makes is attempting to get too many things accomplished. It is better to do fewer things but focus only the most important tasks. The 80/20 rule tells us that 20% of our daily tasks produce 80% of our positive results. 80% of what you do each day is almost irrelevant. By focusing on the 20%, you will make greater use of your time, achieve better results and make life easier for yourself.
When you’re working on these important tasks, reduce your wasted activity and eliminate unproductive distractions. You can use a timer to keep you focused for a fixed period of time. Then, you’ll finish your tasks in even less time, leaving more time for you to do the things you enjoy most!
To know what is important in your life, you need to have a clear and specific set of goals.
2. Have less stuff
We live in a consumerist world. I remember when MTV Cribs first aired and it seemed like each celebrity was trying to outdo each other. In the end, it emerged that some celebrities did not own the houses or the vehicles which they were presenting as their own.
Thankfully, most of us do not behave that stupidly but if you are honest, you will probably find that you own stuff that you don’t need and never use. Owning items you don’t need or love wastes money, creates hassles, and gets you off track. In addition, more possessions mean more items to take care of or worry about.
Before you purchase or acquire any item, ask yourself ‘Do I really need this?’ Also, regularly review your possessions to identify items that are no longer of use to you. You can always pass them along to someone who does require them or, a charity shop. You’ll find that life feels easier and lighter if you only have the things you really need or love – you’ll enjoy your things more, save money, and have more free time.
3. Avoid worrying about matters that don’t really matter
If your life is full of struggle, it’s likely that you’re often fighting over little things. When something is getting you down, ask yourself ’12 Months from now, will this be such a big deal?’ You will usually find that the answer is ‘No’. Let go off all those minor matters, take a breath, and follow the first strategy – focus on what is important.
4. Get organised
When people used to lecture me about being organised and ordered, it used annoy me big time. I considered time spent organising as time wasted. Years later, I can now see that such organisation is one of the greatest time savers that you can possibly implement.
I remember my first real boss – Gary; whenever I would ask him for something, he would just go straight to the place where it was stored and grab it. If he asked me for something, unless I was working on it at that moment, I would be pulling my desk apart, trying to find it.
It has taken me time to get more organised but as I have done so, I have seen the benefits in terms of time saved and reduced stress – as I no longer fear that I may have lost something important. Each person will have an organising strategy that works best for them. If you have not found one yet, then you should start organising now. It is a simple way to make life easier for yourself.
5. Change gradually
When you get frustrated with life, it can be very tempting to try to change everything at once. You want to get up earlier, eat better, exercise daily, and improve your social life all at the same time. You quickly learn, the hard way, that it’s extremely difficult to be successful following this path.
Instead, work on one thing at a time. Give it a couple of weeks, and then add in something else. And go slowly with each item. Having patience when you make an important change is crucial to ensuring your success.
6. Show compassion
Compassion is a key ingredient in developing mutually beneficial and supportive relationships. When you are compassionate to others, not only do they benefit but you feel better about yourself too. You become a positive influence in the lives of others and you’ll be helping yourself at least as much as you’re helping them. When you are compassionate, you value being kind above being right. This strategy will make life easier by reducing conflict and worry.
Compassion comes easier when you choose to adopt Values Based Living.
Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Not only does it make life easier for you but it benefits those whom you interact with also. We humans tend to make things more complex than necessary. With complexity comes unnecessary difficulty, stress and conflict. Simplicity is not about dumbing things down. It is about eliminating unnecessary stuff from your life so that you may spend more of your time focusing on what is important to you. When you adopt simplicity and make life easier, you eliminate stress and maximise performance. The strategies, above, will enable you to do so.
Try these 6 suggestions – give them 30 days and see how easy and enjoyable life can be!